Costs

On Campus

Network and Internet access is considered to be a critical part of the functioning of a modern university: the Student Networking service is no longer a convenience service; it is now integral to the Rhodes experience. Therefore provision has been made to incorporate the costs of Student Networking into tuition fees, rather than to provide it as a paid-for extra charged separately (as was the case in 1998–2012).

This means that, starting in 2013, Student Networking (both connections within individual residence rooms and the and the University-wide wireless network) is available on campus to all registered students at no additional charge.

Off Campus

A number of private flat complexes in town have been connected to the Student Network, and students can access Rhodes' network from these locations as if they were in a University residence. The use of Student Networking from such off-campus locations is considered a convenience service and continues to attract an addtional fee (surcharge).

The following is included in the miscellaneous fees section of the latest Student Fees Booklet (note that this price includes VAT):

Off-campus Student Network access: R361 p.a. [*]

Applies when connecting to the Student Network from one of the private flat complexes in town where such access is available. See http://www.ru.ac.za/studnet for details.

Students will be charged the off-campus Student Network access fee during the sign-up process the first time they connect from an applicable off-campus location. It is not refundable, and remains the same throughout the year (the same charge applies, whether you connect for one day or the whole year). However, the fee is only charged once during a given year; you will not charged again if you move between applicable off-campus locations.

Students living in such accommodation, like any other student, will be able to use the Student Network on campus without incurring this additional fee. As with other oppidans, they are also welcome to make use of other Internet service providers rather than the University.

Damage to University infrastructure

When students in residence connect to the Student Network, they implicitly acknowledge that they have a fully-functional network point in a good state of repair in their residence room. If this is no longer the case when they move out of their residence room the Information Technology Division will recover the costs of repairing that network point from the account of the student concerned.

The exact cost of the repair (and hence the amount debited to a student account) will depend on the nature of the damage and will be charged on a time-and-materials basis at the Information Technology Division's current installation rates. There is, however, a minimum charge of R150.